Cartographic heritage in the Zadar scientific and cultural institutions (Croatia)

In Zadar, one of the oldest and most important cultural and scientific centers in the Republic of Croatia there are numerous institutions which, among else also preserve valuable cartographic heritage. Since for centuries this city had been the administrative centre of Dalmatia, that is the whole South Croatia, which generated various needs of regional administration entities, courts, army, shipping companies, Church, schools and others, a part of important cartographic resources is preserved in Zadar. Due to the efforts of civilian and church authorities and more prominent individuals, it originated mostly from European cartographic centers, but some of the maps were also made in Zadar. The biggest number of old maps, atlases and globes are preserved in the Zadar State Archive and in the Research Library Zadar. Part of the cartographic materials is also preserved in the Archbishopric Library, in the Monastery of St. Francis but also in other monastery collections in Zadar and in Zadar region. Cartographic heritage encompasses cartographic representations of several hundreds units dating back from the 16th century. Most of the cartographic representations show Zadar, certain parts of Dalmatia, the whole Croatian coast and the Adriatic, and there are also comprehensive cartographic works representing the entire – at the moment of their creation known – world (Molleti's edition of Ptolemy's Geography, Coronelli's Atlases, Sanson's Atlases, Homann's and Seutter's atlases and others). Some editions are rare even in the European context, for instance Bordon's isolario, atlas of sea charts Carta di cabottagio del Mare Adriatico and others. Since the cartographic heritage preserved in Zadar is an inevitable source for research of experts from various scientific disciplines (geography, cartography, history, art history, toponymy and others) dealing with the examination of the Croatian Adriatic region, it is of extreme importance to systemize cartographic heritage and enable accessibility of quality digital records. From the technical standpoint, research is facilitated to users, and from the archival standpoint, fragile resources are preserved from wear and tear and various forms of damages.